Ae. Joseph et Rg. Hollett, ON THE USE OF SOCIODEMOGRAPHIC INDICATORS IN LOCAL HEALTH-PLANNING - A CANADIAN NON-METROPOLITAN PERSPECTIVE, Social science & medicine, 37(6), 1993, pp. 813-822
This paper argues that the use of socio-demographic indicators to repr
esent actual or potential demand for mental health services needs to b
e informed by knowledge of local settlement conditions and trends. Fol
lowing a selective review of the literature on the use of socio-demogr
aphic indicators in mental health care planning and on the spatial eco
logy of mental illness, a case study of a non-metropolitan jurisdictio
n in southern Ontario, Canada is presented. The results of a regressio
n-based analysis reveal a strong association between the socio-demogra
phic composition of populations and hospitalization rates for mental i
llness. The pattern of correlates appears to be underlain by residenti
al location processes that 'filter' populations on the basis of age an
d socio-economic status. It is concluded that, in the absence of this
knowledge of local social geography, applications of indicators method
ologies run the risk of being 'black boxes'.